MURFREESBORO – City officials will honor the heroic efforts Jerry Anderson by naming a street in his honor Friday afternoon.

Twenty-five years ago, Anderson took two young boys fishing on the Stones River. Two others boys were also fishing nearby and fell into the rain-swollen river while attempting to cross a dam spanning the river.

A Central High graduate, Anderson was a member of the University of Oklahoma's championship team in 1975. He also played professionally for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Cincinnati Bengals. Anderson was 36 when he died.

During its May 15 meeting, the Murfreesboro City Council voted to rename the roadway for Anderson. Currently named Community Circle, the street is located in the Kimbro Woods subdivision off Saint Andrews Drive, only a few miles from where he drowned.

The ceremony will take place at 2 p.m. and will include the City Council, along with Anderson's family and friends.

Councilman Ron Washington said though he was about three or four years younger than Anderson, Anderson became his mentor.

"A lot of us didn't have dads, so he was kind of like a brother, uncle and dad for us. He and guys like (retired educator) Robert James taught us some resolve, how to be men, things you mother couldn't teach you," the councilman said. "Those are the kinds of role models we need in the community today.

"I was devastated when he died, inconsolable. And I wasn't alone," he added.

Washington said he looked forward to the times Anderson would come home from school or after football season.

"He came back and sought you out, made sure you were during what you were supposed to do and encouraged you to make something of yourself," Washington said. "I wouldn't be where I am today without him."

In 1990, the NAACP began to celebrate the Jerry Anderson Hero/Humanitarian Award. Mary Wade, who has served as part of the nomination committee for several years, said she knew Anderson well.

"He was an easy-going kid growing up and a great athlete. He'd promised those boys he'd take them fishing and he heard then hollering for help," Wade told The DNJ. "He was a great swimmer, so he was comfortable around water. It wasn't anything for him to jump in and try to help them."

Anderson managed to rescue both boys but went underwater two or three times and never resurfaced. Rescue workers pulled him from the river and transported him to Middle Tennessee Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

The day he died wasn't the first time Anderson, a former lifeguard, had saved someone from drowning. Five years prior, he saved a man and a woman trapped in a buildings and cars following a flood in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Wade said choosing recipients of the awards named for Anderson has always been a hard job.

"Jerry was a hero. We've always tried to give the awards to someone who's gone above and beyond the call of duty. Maybe they didn't physically save someone's life, but they've done something to help make another person's life better," she added. "That's the type of person Jerry was."

Contact Mealand Ragland-Hudgins at 615-278-5189 or mragland@dnj.com. Follow her on Twitter@dnj_mrhudgins.